Weedless bait size

[basssavage24/7]

I've caught fish on way bigger baits.  But I'm struggling on throwing this 10 inch castaic  I have rigged weedless. It's a bit bigger than the 9 inch battle shad but I feel like it folds up better then the battle shad.   I'm not afraid to throw the bigger baits. I'm wondering if it's even worth my time 

  My fish seem to stop growing around the 22 and half inch mark for the most part. I have had 3.5lb bass choke a 10 inch magdraft before. I am I just overthinking this? I have the 10 inch castaic rigged on a 16/0 bkk titan worm hook swims great.     What is your smallest fish you caught on the 9 inch battleshad?    I'm trying to get some confidence to throw this for some Northern strain Largemouth.      Here's a picture for size reference. 

[Fried Lemons]

 This is a picture of a battles shad 9.0 moments after I watched a 7+ eat it off a bluff wall and I completely whiffed my hook set. As you can see the fish ate the whole thing in an instant.

I also fish northern strains and to me there is no better tool than a big soft bait when I know conditions are ripe for a giant fish. In those situations I don’t worry at all about missing out on the more average fish.

[basssavage24/7]

13 hours ago, Fried Lemons said:

 This is a picture of a battles shad 9.0 moments after I watched a 7+ eat it off a bluff wall and I completely whiffed my hook set. As you can see the fish ate the whole thing in an instant.

I also fish northern strains and to me there is no better tool than a big soft bait when I know conditions are ripe for a giant fish. In those situations I don’t worry at all about missing out on the more average fish.

I think I was just getting into my head too much.   You gave me more confidence to throw this on a weedless hook.     Feels like there's 3 ozs of plastic and for some reason it's just throwing me off.

[bassbass]

Less thinking and internet more throwing baits

[chefchris]

Not the color I’d go with probably ever that’s my only issue I see, but thats all personal preference 

[BigBaitThirty]

Focus on prime real estate & create a funnel of opportunity for your offering to be ambushed… The WCZ denser plastic is for durability… but rest assured it will fold. I would use some scent as a bait slick to help allowance physics to play out as intended. They may even hang onto it a moment or so longer for you to realize it’s game time and put your ducks in a row. You can use as much scent as you like but I use it fairly sparingly using two finger tips for the application particularly around the business end and apply a lil’ on the shaft of the hook itself as well so she ready to slide through like butter… Lastly Mike recommends bending the hook up a few degrees so there is a slight tilt to ensure success. Watch his videos on this…

Also don’t be afraid to slow down.

And as Chef said Natural colors should have you more confident as they are in fact a more natural presentation. Outrageous colors do work but I think for LMB Natural is your ticket it’s an inarguable sweet spot to asking the fish the question we all want answered… Will you please eat this bait I spent too much money on lol. The means to an end becomes relative when things line up in your favor and your releasing one of life’s beauties

Quite a while ago this legend Bill Siemantel put me on to palming my reel to where I can have my pointing finger under my line at all times during the retrieve to keep you in tuned as it ensures maximum sensitivity and connection with your line/bait/structure & Strike particularly light pickups… Any deviation from what the normal consistent input may  be, may very well be a pickup and you should react accordingly as they can vacuum a bait and eject it in the same breath so to speak.

Hope this helps. Keep us posted